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Wii U / Wii: retailer confusion almost a year later

woodypop

Member
So the Wii U was released in November, 2012 in North America (not quite one year ago). In today's paper I saw this advertised in Fred Meyer's print insert:

33F03510-A7DD-41B1-9363-54BC3E0F3E0B-10322-000008C90AA36FFF_zpsd5930c0c.jpg


Granted, the employee who put this ad together may have just been on auto-pilot, but I'm a little surprised that this kind of thing still occurs. (I remember an incorrect photo accompanying a similar Target ad not too long ago as well.)
 

DJIzana

Member
Pretty sure that won't matter a single bit once their AAA titles start pouring out. Word of mouth is still the best form of marketing and influence. :p
 
The fact that Nintendo hasn't addressed this issue yet after nearly a year is really baffling. Are the higher ups unaware that this is a real issue or are they assuming it's just an internet meme?
 

Bsigg12

Member
I had a woman asking if Wii U games would work on the Wii today while I was auditing a Best Buy. She didn't know the Wii U was a new system.
 
Pretty sure that won't matter a single bit once their AAA titles start pouring out. Word of mouth is still the best form of marketing and influence. :p
Surely mean dripping out. We have 3D World in November, Tropical Freeze in February 2014, MKU in Q1 2014 and Smash... probably around Fall of 2014.

I would hardly call that "pouring out".
 

Mellahan

Concerned about dinosaur erection.
Anyone else think this problem could be alleviated if Nintendo simply discontinued Wii?

It's being discontinued it Japan, sure... but what of the rest of the world?
 

ElRenoRaven

Gold Member
Not shocking. At this point it's not even comical anymore. It's just really sad. Nintendo seems determined not to get a clue.
 

Haines

Banned
I honestly thought Nintendo would quickly realize that they needed to relaunch it as Wii 2 and do it before the big fall push. I understand a name change doesnt come free, but it would have saved this ambarassmnet
 
Anyone else think this problem could be alleviated if Nintendo simply discontinued Wii?

It's being discontinued it Japan, sure... but what of the rest of the world?

Nope, wouldn't do anything. Solution is to change the name to "U" and drop the controller. Then a launch a new marketing campaign like Sony did with the ps3 slim.
 

gryz

Banned
fred meyer rules for getting games on day 1 though.

even though for wonderful 101 i had to ask the guy to get it out of the back and he had no idea what it was.
 

IMBored

Member
I had a woman asking if Wii U games would work on the Wii today while I was auditing a Best Buy. She didn't know the Wii U was a new system.

Yesterday I went in a big chain store that had a big information note on top of the only two WiiU boxes that said that WiiU games don't work on the Wii, so I guess that question is not uncommon.

As a side note they also had a empty case and monitor display with a PS4 where I guess they'll have PS4 demo units in the future.
 

DJIzana

Member
Surely mean dripping out. We have 3D World in November, Tropical Freeze in February 2014, MKU in Q1 2014 and Smash... probably around Fall of 2014.

I would hardly call that "pouring out".

Yeah... bad phrasing on my part. Regardless though, curious to see what else they have planned once all those titles get released. ;)
 
The fact that Nintendo hasn't addressed this issue yet after nearly a year is really baffling. Are the higher ups unaware that this is a real issue or are they assuming it's just an internet meme?

Reggie said in an interview last month that confusion wasn't an issue.

The man is a jackass.
 

mantidor

Member
Nope, wouldn't do anything. Solution is to change the name to "U" and drop the controller. Then a launch a new marketing campaign like Sony did with the ps3 slim.

No matter how many times you repeat it the controller isn't the issue.

And if it was then there's nothing else to do, the name wouldn't matter.
 

jay

Member
The fact that Nintendo hasn't addressed this issue yet after nearly a year is really baffling. Are the higher ups unaware that this is a real issue or are they assuming it's just an internet meme?

They know but it's embarrassing so they do nothing and just hope it will go away. It's called the leaking nuclear reactor strategy.
 

hamchan

Member
It's funny how people would *get it* if it was a "2", but are completely retarded when it's a "U".

Of course. The "2" clearly shows a progression, a next step up.

A "U" doesn't, especially when Nintendo has already established a line of "Wii _____" products.
 
Reggie says that it isn't an issue.
Reggie is dumb as fuck.

Reggie said in an interview last month that confusion wasn't an issue.

The man is a jackass.
It illustrates how out of touch Nintendo is with the market right now. Every single person that's visited me and saw the system so far assumed it was a Wii with a new peripheral. And I've tried to explain to people that's it's not a Wii but struggled trying to explain to them what made it a new system.

These are real problems Nintendo, real problems.
 

antitrop

Member
I literally cannot believe that Reggie said that with a straight face. Of course the branding is an issue, you could use the Wii U in a Marketing class as an instruction manual on what NOT to do.

Super Wii, Wii 2, Wii Next, hell even fucking Wii: The Next Generation would have been fine.

Anything but Wii U. You have to let people know that this is the next thing they're supposed to buy.
 
No matter how many times you repeat it the controller isn't the issue.

And if it was then there's nothing else to do, the name wouldn't matter.

The name absolutely is a problem. Especially combined with the console's entire look and feel. If it were called the Nintendo U right from the start it would be obvious to anyone that it wasn't the Wii, but something different.

Controller is mostly an issue because of price and that no one seems to give a shit about it. But it also feeds into the confusion problem. People hear the name "Wii U" and rightly assume it must be something you buy for your Wii, or some new model of the Wii. Then they see that giant tablet controller and realize "Aha! That must be it! That's the new ipad device for my Wii!".
 
It illustrates how out of touch Nintendo is with the market right now. Every single person that's visited me and saw the system so far assumed it was a Wii with a new peripheral. And I've tried to explain to people that's it's not a Wii but struggled trying to explain to them what made it a new system.

These are real problems Nintendo, real problems.

Not to be an ass, but how would you struggle describing it as a new system like you would with a new Xbox or Playstation? Sure, maybe struggle in how it's a new system in comparison to a 360 or PS3, but from the Wii?
 

EloquentM

aka Mannny
People keep saying they're not doing anything about it. Wasn't there a advert posted here that dealt with that very issue?
 

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
I literally cannot believe that Reggie said that with a straight face. Of course the branding is an issue, you could use the Wii U in a Marketing class as an instruction manual on what NOT to do.

Super Wii, Wii 2, Wii Next, hell even fucking Wii: The Next Generation would have been fine.

Anything but Wii U. You have to let people know that this is the next thing they're supposed to buy.

This. Nintendo can only blame themselves.
 

TunaLover

Member
They barely advertise its system, I think the Nintendo logic is that the system will sell eventually when first party games start pouring, so they think they don't need do anymore to help the Wii U brand.
 
People keep saying they're not doing anything about it. Wasn't there a advert posted here that dealt with that very issue?

I'm not familiar with the advert, but it needs to be treated with the same priority as all the marketing they put in for Pokemon X&Y. Hell, I think Mario & Luigi: Dream Team had more marketing behind it.

I mean, look at the effort Microsoft is going through to try and turn around opinions on the Xbox One with their new advertisements. However we as game enthusiasts view the situation regarding their 180, the general person who doesn't follow this stuff would see those adverts and find it to instantly dispel whatever they may have saw in a CNN blurb or from one of the guy's from the 4th floor.

What's worse is that Nintendo doesn't really seem to care. Every problem they say isn't a problem, that their competition isn't something that can affect them, and the one thing they admit to being an issue [games] they aren't doing squat about in marketing or goodwill.

Edit: I haven't seen any videos on the regular networks, from CBS to Fox to Nickelodeon. Seen plenty of X&Y ads though. Except for a few days around when the first ads for the Wii U came out, I haven't seen anything.
The good thing about this is that Fred Meyers will be selling quite a few Wii U systems until someone in management posts up a notice for customers to clarify the situation. The bad news is that they're going to lose money on it.
 

Hiltz

Member
In the U.S., Nintendo's only had like two TV ads for Lego City and Pikmin 3 this year. 3DS has had ads for Fire Emblem, Luigi's Mansion 2, Animal Crossing, and Pokemon X&Y. I'm not sure if DKC: Returns 3D got one.
 
Not to be an ass, but how would you struggle describing it as a new system like you would with a new Xbox or Playstation? Sure, maybe struggle in how it's a new system in comparison to a 360 or PS3, but from the Wii?
People that have seen it haven't seen the graphics and even if they did I'm not sure that they would care. All the know is that the console looks almost exactly like the Wii but with a new controller. The Wii had so many extraneous add-ons that it's not hard to see why people are confused.

I say that it's a new system and they don't seem to really understand what makes it new aside from the controller which they feel they should be able to just go out and buy for their old Wii.

Building the Wii around the controller and not graphics probably seemed like a great idea at the time but now most non-gamers don't automatically associate a new system with more powerful graphics.
 

BatDan

Bane? Get them on board, I'll call it in.
In the U.S., Nintendo's only had like two TV ads for Lego City and Pikmin 3 this year. 3DS has had ads for Fire Emblem, Luigi's Mansion 2, Animal Crossing, and Pokemon X&Y. I'm not sure if DKC: Returns 3D got one.

DKC Returns 3D did get one. The Wonderful 101 did not (and that annoys me). Neither did Wind Waker HD.

More commercials! More marketing! Stop being deaf and clear up the confusion!
 

EloquentM

aka Mannny
I'm not familiar with the advert, but it needs to be treated with the same priority as all the marketing they put in for Pokemon X&Y. Hell, I think Mario & Luigi: Dream Team had more marketing behind it.

I mean, look at the effort Microsoft is going through to try and turn around opinions on the Xbox One with their new advertisements. However we as game enthusiasts view the situation regarding their 180, the general person who doesn't follow this stuff would see those adverts and find it to instantly dispel whatever they may have saw in a CNN blurb or from one of the guy's from the 4th floor.

What's worse is that Nintendo doesn't really seem to care. Every problem they say isn't a problem, that their competition isn't something that can affect them, and the one thing they admit to being an issue [games] they aren't doing squat about in marketing or goodwill.

Edit: I haven't seen any videos on the regular networks, from CBS to Fox to Nickelodeon. Seen plenty of X&Y ads though. Except for a few days around when the first ads for the Wii U came out, I haven't seen anything.
The good thing about this is that Fred Meyers will be selling quite a few Wii U systems until someone in management posts up a notice for customers to clarify the situation. The bad news is that they're going to lose money on it.
Oh no I agree, don't get me wrong. I just thought they were doing something about it which is why I asked.
 
People that have seen it haven't seen the graphics and even if they did I'm not sure that they would care. All the know is that the console looks almost exactly like the Wii but with a new controller. The Wii had so many extraneous add-ons that it's not hard to see why people are confused.

I say that it's a new system and they don't seem to really understand what makes it new aside from the controller which they feel they should be able to just go out and buy for their old Wii.

Building the Wii around the controller and not graphics probably seemed like a great idea at the time but now most non-gamers don't automatically associate a new system with more powerful graphics.

I get that and agree, but you didn't make it clear that the whole issue was surrounding what the box looked like ; )

However, I'll say that it's a question that is common for every system at retail. To them, they all look the same. Obviously, there's an issue where the controller is priority real estate in marketing and the name follows too closely with the peripheral names, but that sort of questioning is far from being exclusive to the Wii U.

Just last week I had someone ask me about the new Xbox, as well as the usual can I use my old stuff with it, can you play its games on the 360, and so on and so forth.
 

erawsd

Member
Reggie said in an interview last month that confusion wasn't an issue.

The man is a jackass.

Its probably a minor issue. Truth is, if someone was interested in a WiiU game then they'd naturally find out on their own that its something new. They don't know the WiiU is something new because they don't care. With Mario Kart and Smash Bros on the horizon I'm sure that'll start to change.
 
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